My Life as Shadow Lord

Beginning through Ending

"The fox ate the sheep," I read out loud.

"Good job Zariam," Mother said as she clapped for me. She was so smart. Her reading was so good, I could never be better than her. As soon as we closed the story book a man ran inside. "Cana! Hurry, Rudel fell and-,"he seemed to be crying. Mother ran out to see Rudel. "Wait here Zariam," she said while walking out. I nodded. Father walked in and hugged the man. "Everything is going to be ok, you know about Cana's ability." The man nodded as he went out. "What happened?" I asked Father.

"Nothing for one of your age to worry about," Father said, smiling full way.

"How old am I?" I asked Father.

"I guess," Father looked at his hands, counting his fingers, "12 years."

"Oh, right," I said. I sat on the floor as Father went into the bedroom. He seemed to be exhausted. Hours passed until Mother returned. "Hello boys," she said cheerfully.

"I finished the entire story by myself," I said to her. "Good job Zariam. Guess you should start magic in a few days."

"I already know some magic though," I said. Mother was gifted with the power of magic. Almost everyone was gifted. Though, in our village, only mother had the power to heal and create flames and sparks out of thin air. I remember how she healed my swollen knee. She formed symbols in front of her and drew a line across all of them to form a cool, healing light. My knee instantly got better. I too was gifted like her. I was learning to read with mother. She said I could continue her job of magician in the village. I wanted to do what she did, she helped us all with her magic, I wanted to do the same.

"We will be learning proper magic tomorrow," she said smiling. I clapped my handsand hugged her. She did the same and Father joined us. Our family was like any other, happy and content. It was only until our final hug that it stood together. The sound of horses was among us. "Horses?" my Mother asked.

"We don't have any in the village," Father said. All of us went outside and saw the horses, and the people who rode them. These people were not our dear village members but bandits. Five horses it must have been, but more bandits than that. Each one had a small weapon like a knife or a sword but one had a very peculiar staff.

"Hello everyone," the one with the staff said, clearly another magic bearer, "today, we are going to take away all your lives and all your belongings so that us so called bandits can have a bit more of a jolly time."

"Why are you here? We have no items of value, we are of no use to you," Mother said so bravely.

"You must have something," the wizard said. He pointed his staff at mother. "
"Could you have something so desperate to hide if your off braving bandits like us."

"I have the ability to brave the ones who defect our world," Mother said as she created flames from her hands. The villagers praised on in shouts and mockery of the bandits. The wizard scowled and got down from his horse. He pointed his staff at mother. "Let's see if this dog actually bites," he said.

"Everyone," Mother shouted, "please go far from here, violence might occur."

The wizard ran at her as the villagers ran the opposite way. The bandits stopped the villagers in their escape. Father took me close and hid me behind a few boxes.

He ran towards mother to support her. He could not fight nor simply stand around doing nothing. The wizard erupted flames around him as he dug his staff into the ground. Mother easily moved away from the flames as they died and released a wave of ice across the area. The wizard ducked as the ice went above him. The ice went and smashed into the horses of the bandits and their owners. The villagers crashed through the bandits as much as they could and ran for their lives. The wizard, enraged, released shockwaves from his staff towards father. Father was pushed to the sky and crushed to the ground. The wizard walked towards Father as Mother came close and tried to smash flames into him but the wizard easily deflected it with magic of his own and pushed Mother away as he burnt Father to the stake.

Mother gave up and fell to the ground. Father was killed. I ran to Mother as the wizard smiled grievously. "Your son is going to share the result of showing your bravery," he said, casting another spell on me. I could see the circles and stars forming under me. The symbols of magic keyed together to form a barrier around me. I tried moving but it was impossible. "Your son will be crushed by my magic," he said. Mother retaliated with flames released at the wizard. The wizard burnt his arm and yelled in pain. Mother released waves of lightning at me. The barrier was breaking and I could be free. "Zariam," she smiled, "your going to be okay." I smiled back as the bandit smacked her at the back the head. He held my barrier with even more power. I began to cry and then maybe wail. The wizard looked at me. I cried even more. The tears along my face must have released something because I never had a star mark on my right hand before. The mark was not of magic but it in my skin. It began to glow. The wizard smirked and then frowned. "What is this?" he began to tremble and fall to his knees. I felt something surge within me. I stroked forward at the barrier. A pain struck at my hand and I felt the magic weaving around my hand. Mothers's cool touch and Father's warmth embraced me as I stood. A darkness released from my hand and stuck the wizard. The barrier broke and shattered into the air, dispersing into the magic. The lines of darkness was swarming from my hand surrounded the wizard and stabbed him at every angle. His blood was spilling to the sun baked stone ground and my powers released themselves at every angle. The black blades etched from my hand struck through the entire village. They cut through the bandits as a solid form of darkness and massacred the villagers who were more than meters away from the village. I could the cries and shouts of everyone around me. The wizard was screaming in pain. The memories of my parents surrounded me. The hugs, the magic and the reading. The times we had playing and eating and having fun. The emotions blinded me from the present. The places we visited flashed through as the darkness ripped through everywhere. I fell to the ground. I cried and wailed for hours until I was too tired to move. I slept on the ground, orphaned and lost.